Chapter 13: Outflanked
Taikei, Veemon, and ExTyrannomon began to approach the Wasteland, the ground became harder as they transitioned from grassy fields to hardened rock and dirt. Taikei pulled out a water bottle and drank from it "we've been travelling for about 3 hours now, 3 more and we can rest, it's going to get dark soon though"Taikei said in a weary voice with the two Digimon groaning "you guys are data, how can you get tired?" ExTyrannomon then responded "we need to eat too, does getting tired really surprise you?" Taikei sighed "I guess you're right." Veemon then sniffed the air "hey, wait guys!" He uttered with the other two standing at attention Veemon closed his eyes and sniffed the air "I smell something really tasty!" ExTyrannomon sniffed aswell "AH he's right! It must be the legendary Meat Fields of Ohguino Wasteland!" Taikei raised an eyebrow "Meat...Fields?" ExTyrannomon nodded "yes, meat grown in in the Wasteland is known for its rich and delicious flavor, and it's tenderness and juiciness!" Taikei breathed in "meat grows out of the ground here...yeah okay" Veemon then bolted off toward a direction "Veemon!" Taikei called out while chasing after him, ExTyrannomon jumped onto Taikei's shoulder "oh dear, we should stop him, the Meat Fields are heavily guarded by powerful Carnivorous Digimon" Veemon stopped at a ledge followed by Taikei and Ex. Taikei looked on in utter disbelief, there were giant bones covered with actual meat sticking out of the ground "you...weren't kidding...can't really say I expected less" Veemon looked around "there's no one here, that means they're up for the taking!" Veemon jumped down with Taikei calling after him "no, Veemon! That's not how that works!" Veemon jumped up grabbing a large bone and taking all the meat off in one bite "aaaand you're a thief now, great" Taikei said with exhaustion, ExTyrannomon grabbed a small piece and ate it, Taikei threw up his hands "screw it, when in Rome" Taikei picked a piece of meat and bit into it, he nearly melted from the flavor "so...juicy". Taikei shook it off and grabbed the attention of the two Digimon "alright you two, let's get out of here before someone spots us".
ExTyrannomon looked around "peculiar, we should be surrounded by now, but no guards" Ex lept off of Taikei and inspected the ground "the crops haven't been tended either, meat usually doesn't grow this big..." Taikei looked at the ground "no footprints either, this place has been unchecked for a bit" Veemon finished gorging himself "ahhh, that was delicious!" Veemon looked up at the sky and noticed something in the distance "psst, Taikei! What's that?" Veemon pointed at something in the distance, Taikei walked over to Veemon's side, he then took his survival pack and reached into it, he pulled out two small cylinders that were attached to one another "this should be it" he then pressed a button on one of them and they extended and separated into a pair of binoculars, he brought them up to his eyes and looked, what was there was a brown colored metallic airship with eyes, it had small arms and propellors with two large cannons mounted at the top "Ex, come take a look at this, it looks like a Digimon...ship?" ExTyrannomon hopped onto Taikei's head and was handed the binoculars, she looked and froze in fear, Veemon started jumping up and down "lemme have a look! I wanna see it!" Ex dropped the binoculars and they hit Veemon on the head, Taikei looked up "what's up?" Ex jumped off of Taikei's head "we have to go, now!" Taikei picked up the binoculars and looked to see the blimp turned towards them heading in their direction "okay, great plan Ex, let's get out of here" Taikei and Veemon sprinted away with Veemon scooping up ExTyrannomon and began to run.
Taikei looked behind them to see the blimp gaining on them, the cargo door opened on the blimp and several large objects launched out of it, the objects then rocketed forward toward the group "oh boy, that's not good" the objects came into view, they were Digimon, they had dark blue metallic bodies with dragon-like yellow heads, the sides of them had doors that looked like ribcages, the Digimon were being powered by giant propellers, the bottoms of these Digimon opened to reveal gatling guns, they began to whirl "we need to find cover now!" Taikei shouted before a hail of bullets started raining down, Veemon noticed a crevace that led downward "over there!" Veemon and Taikei made a quick turn and went into the crevace not knowing it was smooth stone, Veemon and Taikei began to slide down before falling and sliding even faster. The three were barely outrunning the bullets "if we weren't being shot at, I'd say this was fun!" Taikei uttered.
The crevace finally spat them out into a clearing, Taikei and Veemon recovered fast with ExTyrannomon jumping onto Taikei's shoulder, they ran a bit before stopping at a cliff "we're trapped..." ExTyrannomon said, defeated. Veemon turned around as spotlights illuminated them, Taikei looked to see the flying Digimon hovering above them, Taikei took this opportunity to scan them "Cargodramon, Ultimate Level Machine Digimon...who are these guys?" ExTyrannomon shivered "the D-Brigade..." Taikei looked up at the ridge where they came from, one of the Cargodramon landed and several smaller Digimon ran out of it posting up on the ridge, Taikei scanned them too, they were Commandramon, Rookie Level Digimon. Taikei noticed what they had in their hands, they were rifles, they lined up along the ridge and aimed, Taikei thought quickly and grabbed something from his backpack, it was a small disc that was segmented into triangles with a button in the middle, he pressed the button and tossed the disk to the ground, the disc expanded and created a force field that covered the group, the Commandramon fired but the shots bounced off the shield "looks like the shield's holding..." Taikei said nervously watching the field ripple under the barrage of ammunition. One of the Cargodramon began to land infront of the group "what're they gonna throw at us now?" the ribcage of the Cargodramon opened and larger Digimon stepped out, they looked like bigger Commandramon with red helmets with a horned nose, they had heavier armor with riot shields and larger rifles, Taikei scanned them "Hi-Commandramon, Champion-Level, those rifles aren't rifles, they're Grenade Launchers", Hi-Commandramons then fired, the grenades made impact with the shield shaking it, Veemon saw a small crack in the shield "Taikei, the shield won't hold!" Taikei reached into the pack and pulled out a grenade-like object "here it is, both of you, cover your mouths!" Veemon and ExTyrannomon did so, Taikei pulled the pin and rolled it out of the force field, the grenade then began to spew black smoke obscuring the field. A Commandramon pointed two of its claws and the Commandramon got down from the ridge and began to move into the smoke, Veemon listened to the footsteps" they're getting close..." Taikei then put on a mask "okay, I'm gonna drop the shield, Veemon, get ready to fight, the binoculars have a thermo function so I'l direct you" Veemon cracked his knuckles "okay, let's do this!" Taikei pressed the button on the disc and the shield lowered, Taikei then looked into the binoculars "okay Veemon, right infront of you" Veemon jumped in and punched a Hi-Commandramon knocking the large Digimon down "a group of Commandramon are at your immediate left" Veemon nodded and rocketed in that direction headbutting the group sending them flying out of the smoke, one of Commandramon grabbed a walkie-talkie on their chest and talked into it "General, we're requesting support" a stern voice came from the device "request received, deploying smoke deterrent and Special Forces" the Cargodramon hovering overhead began to spin their propellers blowing the smoke away revealing Veemon who was throwing haymakers into the other Hi-Commandramon.
One of the Commandramon backed away "that Veemon's a monster!" Another put their hand on their shoulder "don't lose your nerve now soldier, we've got the Seals comin' in..." Veemon looked up to see the blimp overhead opening up its hatch and several Digimon jumped out landing without a sound, Taikei scanned them "Sealsdramon" they were covered head to toe in black metallic armor with an apparatus covering their eyes, they wielded combat knives which they all spun with incredible skill, one made a hand signal and they all rushed toward Veemon, Veemon jumped at them but was quickly knocked away, Taikei looked at ExTyrannomon "you wanna jump in there?" ExTyrannomon responded by crawling into Taikei's backpack "fine...guess I'll join" Taikei put down his backpack and popped metal band off of his belt "I'm using a lot of my equipment, oh well" Taikei then squeezed the band and it extended wrapping around his right hand along the knuckles and drew a knife from the backpack, Taikei activated his DNA and ran in suckerpunching a Commandramon "HYAAAAH!!" The Commandramon flew into another one, Taikei then rushed over helping Veemon up "thanks buddy" Taikei smiled "no problem, now, Twin Maneuver" Taikei and Veemon stood back to back watching as the Sealsdramon circled them at incredible speed, Taikei barely reacted as one rushed at him, he ducked and Veemon hit the Sealsdramon with a righthook that sent it flying off the cliff, Taikei then clashed blades with one but he was quickly disarmed, he then hit the Sealsdramon with a right jab but he was then knocked down by one of them, Veemon saw this and roundhouse kicked the Digimon back, Veemon grabbed Taikei's hand abd lifted him up "now we're even..." Taikei then pulled out his Digivice just as more Digimon dropped from the ship, they looked like if a dragon was stitched together with a military tank, various revolving gun barrels and tank barrels stuck out from it and very large tank treads kept it stable.
Taikei slammed his hand onto his Digivice "DNA Charge!" Just as the Tank Digimon fired at them, Veemon began to glow just as the missles made impact "Veemon Digivolve to...Veedramon!" Veedramon erupted out of the smoke from the missles and roared, the Sealsdramon attacked but were battered away effortlessly by Veedramon's tail, Veedramon then collected blue flame in his mouth, the tanks fired and Veedramon fired his own blast in response vaporizing the missles and subsequently, the tanks, Veedramon then fired a concentrated beam upward destroying the Cargodramon flying overhead, one of the tanks approached Veedramon roaring at him, Veedramon looked at it and growled, the tank then spoke "we are the D-Brigade! I am Tankdramon, I challenge you to a one on one duel!" Tankdramon rushed forward as did Veedramon, Veedramon reeled back his fist and punched Tankdramon causing the tank Digimon to explode into pieces. Veedramon roared in victory before firing a sweeping beam at the infantry creating a wall of explosions and blue fire, a Commandramon dove out of the way, it then talked into its walkie-talkie in a panicked state "Command, we are severely pinned and outgunned, please advise!" A voice came from the other end "Fallback and Disengage, the General wishes to engage" the Commandramon was stunned "y-yessir" it then waved its arm forward "Fallback! The General is about to land!" The remaining troops began to retreat and Veedramon stopped firing and saw the army a good distance away, the cargo door of the blimp opened once more, Veedramon could feel a presence in the ship, one that made him nervous, Taikei joined Veedramon, ExTyrannomon began shaking uncontrollably in the backpack "we should've let them kill us, now the General is going to take care of us himself..." Taikei's face turned to worry "the General huh?" something suddenly impacted the ground causing the very rock they were on to shake, the dust cleared and a Digimon stood there, it's blue armor shimmered in the dull sunlight, it had a jet-like device on its back thar stuck out above its head, it's head was encased in orange glass with a horn on either side of its head and one on its nose and piercing red eyes glowing within the orange glass, it's chest armor was brilliantly silver and ropes formed X's along the chestplate with the armor on its shoulders looking like unfired missles, on its right arm was a massive belt-fed minigun and on its left was a giant blue clawed gauntlet with thick, black claws. Taikei scanned the Digimon but it shouted at him "no need for the scan, I can introduce myself...I am Brigadramon, Leader of the D-Brigade!" Veedramon growled and Taikei spoke back "well...I'm Taikei, and this is Veedramon, we're just passing through and-" Brigadramon interrupted him "we know about Monzaemon" Taikei stopped dead in his tracks "you know?" Brigadramon walked closer "yes, we hired Monzaemon to take the Forest Area, didn't want to deal with such a small job ourselves when taking the Meat Fields was more of a priority" Veedramon roared at Brigadramon as it got closer, Brigadramon cocked the minigun on its hand "I should reward you for your bravery against my forces, not many have the privilage of facing me in battle" Veedramon charged forward "Veedramon, Wait!" Taikei yelled but Veedramon ignored him.
Brigadramon's jet device activated and it rocketed forward, Brigadramon then reeled back and smashed Veedramon in the face sending Veedramon sprawling to the ground, Veedramon quickly recovered and charged again, Brigadramon's claw then opened up and it grabbed Veedramon by the horn lifting up Veedramon and slamming him into the ground causing him to roll across the dirt, Veedramon propped himself onto his knee as Brigadramon walked towards him, Veedramon gritted his teeth and growled as Brigadramon scoffed "is this all you can muster? I've handled worse than you" Veedramon's mouth filled with fire "LET'S SEE HOW YOU HANDLE THIS!!" Veedramon roared at the top of his lungs and his mouth erupted with a massive blast of blue plasmatic fire, the hottest and pumped with the most power he has ever shot billowed out glassing the ground where it travelled...but it was useless, Taikei could see that Brigadramon was walking right through it, Veedramon pushed even harder but Brigadramon's silhouette got closer and closer increasing in size before Brigadramon himself emerged out of the fire and slashed Veedramon in the face knocking him down to the ground, Veedramon threw a backfist but Brigadramkn flew above it then around Veedramon, his minigun whirled to life and it fired a volley of bullets, Veedramon put his arms up to defend himself, the bullets stung as they made impact with his skin, Veedramon's arms were becoming numb, suddenly Brigadramon stopped, Veedramon lowered his arms "that was a smaller caliber, let's see how you deal with a larger round" Brigadramon began shooting again, except the bullets this time fired louder and Veedramon couldn't keep up the defense, he lowered his arms and took the hail of bullets, Brigadramon stopped and Veedramon dropped to his knees, Brigadramon walked over to Veedramon "you showed some potential but, not enough to make a difference against us, all enemies shatter and crumble against us!" Brigadramon reeled back and stabbed Veedramon in the midsection lifting him off the ground "VEEDRAMON!!!" Taikei screamed as loud as he could, Brigadramon then walked to the edge of the cliff holding Veedramon, he then tossed Veedramon off the cliff where his body plummeted to the bottom, Taikei looked over the edge to see nothing, Taikei clenched his fist till it bled and threw an uppercut hitting Brigadramon in the jaw, but he didn't even flinch, Brigadramon aimed his minigun at Taikei "these will do much more damage to you than to any Digimon" Taikei backed away, then with a determined look on his face took a step back and fell.